Hog Management
Water doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it is abundant, easy to access and inexpensive, but that will change in the future, said John Patience, PhD, professor of animal science at Iowa State University.
In January, an outbreak of S. zooepidemicus in an Indiana sow herd spurred a Swine Health Information Center project to learn more. Here’s what they discovered.
Raising pigs without antibiotics requires extra management and different tools compared to traditional commercial hog production, reports Laura Carroll, DVM, veterinarian with Four Star Veterinary Service.
What do the blockage of the Suez Canal for several days and the run on feta cheese resulting from a recipe that went viral have in common? They both place unexpected stresses on supply chains.
When finalizing tax documents, you might find yourself thinking about the tax dollars you could have invested back into your farm. One way you might make those dollars work for you is to contract grow pigs.
Health insurance coverage and healthcare costs are among the greatest challenges for self-employed Americans, including farmers.
When used in conjunction with an M. hyo-closure program, exposing all or some part of the herd to M. hyo is often considered a crucial first step in the herd-closure process, says Amy Maschhoff, DVM, with The Maschhoffs.
Columnist Kent Bang of Compeer Financial outlines five of the main factors impacting the cost of pork production today and ideas to consider to control the rising cost of production.
Biosecurity ranks high on the list of concerns for swine veterinarians who want hog units tightened up to reduce disease. Improvements can be expensive but the cost of not making those improvements could be much higher.
Hasty decisions made under pressure during the pandemic might not have been ideal from a disease management perspective, says Clare LeFevre, Carthage Veterinary System Ltd. She weighs in on depopulation and repopulation.
If you want to improve animal well-being and human safety on the farm, start by looking at the overall structure of the facility. Here are five safety and animal care tips to ensure your facilities remain sustainable.
“The wild hog is very possibly the most dangerous animal in the wild. And he knows no enemies and he knows no fear,” says Hank Berdine of the Mississippi Levee Board in a new video series, Feral Swine in America.
How will Proposition 12 be enforced? If I invest a lot of money to change my barn to be compliant, what’s coming next that I’ll need to adapt to? There are more questions than answers about Prop 12 implementation.
The pork industry entered one of its darkest periods in spring 2020 when COVID-19 forced the shutdown of several pork packing plants. Paul Yeske, DVM, Swine Vet Center, helped hog producers work through the closures.
Corn is the most commonly used cereal grain in diets for pigs and it can easily be grown. Innovation in corn genetics has resulted in a new cultivar that contains more oil than conventional hybrids of corn.
A shocker. A game-changer. A surprise. In USDA’s March 1 Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report, analysts agree this very bullish report changes the outlook perspective.
Vaccines are the most important tool we have to control influenza, says Montserrat Torremorell. That’s why her team continually studies how it is transmitted and how vaccines can help prevent transmission.
Proposition 12, California’s animal welfare rule, is slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022. But with these new regulations still mired in a legal battle, the pork industry is left in limbo, Rabobank says.
Extension launches an online platform for exchange of carbon sources needed by livestock producers hit hard by COVID-19.
Smithfield Foods aims to go beyond carbon neutrality and remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits and will achieve this goal without purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions.
The pivotal moment in the journey to more sustainable livestock production is now, says Brett Kaysen of the National Pork Board. Here’s a look at how the pork and poultry industries are driving progress.
Maintaining continuity of nutrient intake after weaning begins with people, says Madie Wensley, doctoral student at Kansas State University. Wensley recently released two short videos to help improve pig survivability.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Some producers say the sow caliper is an example of a technology solution that has brought great value to their business.
Growing up in southern Wisconsin, Mark Knauer was heavily involved in livestock judging and meats judging. He still remembers lessons he learned from his livestock judging coach and county Extension agent Bob Ziegler.
Feed prices have risen dramatically, exports are at record levels, cold storage is as empty as it gets, and hog prices are rising. But how do you put all of these pieces together to predict profitability?
How do we grow pork consumption? Mohan Sawhney, a professor at Northwestern University, shares a lesson he learned from Facebook and Google: Build a toothbrush.
Soy in livestock diets is traditionally evaluated on one metric: crude protein. Recent research shows that may not be the best indicator for meeting nutritional needs of livestock. How can you discern those differences?
Everyone likes a deal! Who doesn’t? But sometimes the deal isn’t as good as what we thought and we don’t figure that out until after the fact. The same thing can happen with nutrition or diet formulation.
Despite the rumor mill surrounding the virulent porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) Lineage 1C strain 1-4-4, Paul Sundberg, DVM, says it’s not time to sound the alarms yet.
As the pork industry looks for opportunities to decrease its carbon footprint, could formulating diets based on net energy help? Some experts say net energy formulation can provide a better path to sustainability.